Cross-country dominates at Lagoon Valley Classic
By Abbey Fisk,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–
The Davis High cross-country team kicked off its season at the Lagoon Valley Classic in Vacaville, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 5, braving steep hills and winning six of the seven races with DHS entrants.
The men’s varsity squad beat second-place Armijo (49-73) by placing four Davis runners in the top 10. Junior Michael Vernau ran an incredible time of 15:20 to break the previous course record of 15:32 and win the race, with seniors Nick Borowsky, Kellen Browning and Joe Blakewell finishing second, fifth and ninth respectively to help secure the overall win.
The women’s varsity team scored 44 points to overcome second-place Vacaville, thanks to junior Sofia Castiglioni’s first place finish. (Editor’s Note: Junior Abbey Fisk, who wrote this article, also had a tremendous race and took second behind Castiglioni)
“It was very encouraging to see a lot of Davis girls run as fast as they did,” said Castiglioni, who won in 18:22.
Sophomore Sage Taylor was third for DHS and 10th overall in her first varsity race, which she described as “exciting, but nerve-wracking.”
The women’s frosh/soph team was led to victory by Ruthie Mitchell, Sophia Lodigiani and Annie Mitchell, who took third, fourth and fifth place respectively.
The men’s freshman team won its race, with Eric Lengtat, Bryce Gregg and Kobe Standefer all in the top 10, while the men’s sophomore team, led by 13th-place Perry Winsor, took third behind Armijo and McClatchy.
The women’s and men’s JV teams both earned first place, with the women’s team led by juniors Arielle Fletter (3rd), Esther Wang (4th) and Carolina Leshuk (6th).
The men’s race featured a 2-mile duel between senior Brendan Deas and junior Fox Conner for the individual title. Deas eventually prevailed in 11:43 to Conner’s 12:06, in what assistant coach Tim Groth described as a “tough battle.”
“At least half the team ran over to watch the JV guys’ race,” Groth said.
Overall, Groth was pleased with DHS’ performance.
“It’s a good opening race for the season […] it went really well this year,” he said.
